Civil rights activist praises NC-13 candidate Bill Randall

Civil rights activist praises NC-13 candidate Bill Randall

By Harlan Brown
June 18, 2010

Civil rights activist Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., yesterday released a statement praising Bill Randall, candidate for US House in North Carolina's 13th Congressional District. Due to her current work for Priests for Life, King does not endorse political candidates.

Randall is one of two remaining Republican candidates in a runoff election to be held on June 22. The winner will compete against incumbent Democrat Brad Miller in the general election on November 2.

Dr. King released the following statement:

Dear Voters,

Bill Randall's history of supporting life and family issues is remarkable. He can be counted upon to fight for the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for all people.

Because of my work for the non-profit organization Priests for Life, I cannot endorse him in that capacity. But as an individual and as the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I heartily support Bill's efforts on behalf of life and know that if he were elected he would continue to work for life as well as civil rights for all.

A vote for Bill is a vote for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.

God Bless you,
Dr. Alveda C. King

The issue of right to life highlights similarities and differences between Randall and his opponent Bernie Reeves. Unlike the incumbent, both Reeves and Randall oppose public funding of abortion and want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. However, Reeves and Randall disagree on whether preborn babies are persons with a God-given unalienable right to life.

Reeves advocates that Roe v. Wade be overturned so that each state can decide whether abortion should be legal. His emphasis is on states' rights.

In a May 13 debate Reeves said, "I am not pleased with the fact that the issue has become so politicized, because I think it finally boils down to an argument between two absolutes, the right of a fetus and the right of a woman, and I think we're now leaving politics and we're now into religion and morality and personal issues that everybody has to face—or in this case has to face. So I would repeal Roe v. Wade. Now, repealing Roe v. Wade would be the way that I would go about making this decision. One thing is is that Roe v. Wade is another federal intrusion into the lives of the people of America. Until Roe v. Wade, each state had its own set of laws. North Carolina's was very liberal. I think Louisiana's was not. Maybe it all depends whether is was Catholic, whether it was this, whether it was that. Repeal Roe v. Wade, and then we use local standards to make a decision."

Randall, on the other hand, regards abortion as primarily a moral issue involving persons with a God-given unalienable right to life. Therefore, like slavery, abortion needs to be resolved at the national level. The 5th and 14th amendments to the US Constitution guarantee the right to life to all persons.

Justice Harry Blackmun wrote in Roe v. Wade, "If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment."

In the May 13 debate Randall said, "I think that you need to understand that Ronald Reagan wrote a book called Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation. If we cannot protect the life of the innocent in the womb, what does that say for us as a nation? And as far as life is concerned, I believe it should be protected from conception to geriatric care and the elderly."

For a news story about the May 13 debate, see NC-13 US House candidates differ on moral, governmental issues in debate".

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